14.03.2019.
Joint exercise of SAJ, Kobra and Navy SEALs members
Members of the Special Anti-Terrorism Unit of the Ministry of Interior (SAJ), the Military Police Battalion (for special purposes) Kobre (Cobras) and the American Navy SEALs performed a demonstration exercise today at the Training Center “13th May” in Batajnica, marking the crown of the joint one-month anti-terrorist training of these units.
Minister of Defense Aleksandar Vulin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia and Minister of Interior Nebojša Stefanović, US Ambassador Kyle Scott, as well as representatives of the US Government and the European Command for Special Operations of the US Army attended the joint exercise.The aim of the training was to raise the security capacity of the Republic of Serbia in the fight against terrorism, through sharing experience and practice with counterpart US units. So far, US Navy SEALs and SAJ have had three joint trainings, and for the first time this year, they were joined by members of the Military Police battalion Kobre for a joined training and exchanging of skills.
Minister of Interior Nebojša Stefanović communicated after the demonstration that mutual cooperation can lead to excellent results and that such training is important as this is an opportunity to learn from each other.- We learn from each other how to deal with situations that can decide between life and death in a matter of seconds, that can decide whether all our boys will return home alive and well, which is the goal, and whether we will be able to protect the safety of our citizens, which is our main job – said Minister Stefanović.
The Minister of Interior especially thanked the members of the US Navy SEALs for four years of cooperation, noting that the members of SAJ and Kobra units also had the opportunity to co-operate with the Navy SEALs at the highest level and to reaffirm why it is that they belong to the order of the best-equipped and superbly trained units in the world. Stefanović also expressed satisfaction with the enviable level of knowledge and skill demonstrated by members of the Serbian Armed Forces and the excellent and close cooperation between the two Ministries.- Minister Vulin and I have agreed today that such cooperation between the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior will continue and that we will have a joint exercise next month, where we will demonstrate the cooperation of all special units of the Armed Forces and the Police – said Minister Stefanović.
According to Ambassador Scott, this type of joint training is useful in the fight against terrorism and for members of all units that participated in the training.- Only through such joint training we can get to know one another better, but also to be ready to work together in the future. I think that each side has something to learn from the others, so that everyone is even more prepared for the challenges that will come in the future – said Ambassador Scott.
The one-month training allowed highly trained units of Serbia and the United States to exchange experiences and techniques used to confront some of the most complex terrorist and organized crime threats in both countries. During the training, participants improved skills related to close combat, sniper shooting and medical care in combat conditions.